Summer Move Files 106: The Village

Some movies are bad. Some are a great. Some are just okay. However, I think sometimes the worse are the just disappointing. Which is how I felt of The Village. Now I enjoy M. Night Shyamalan's films, and many people compare him to Hitchcock. I guess that is true to some extent in which they both enjoy putting the movie audience in the palm of their hand while pushing their buttons. Trying to get into their heads.

Now I liked the Sixth Sense and Unbreakable even though I haven't seen them since I saw them in theaters. I loved Signs which to me felt like a rollercoaster ride. However, the only button pushed during the Village for me was the snooze button. The remarkably still underrated Jaquin Phoenix was totally wasted, and I guessed the films "twist" ending in the first 20 mins or so. Which is something I usually don't try to even do.

The film is some what frustrating, because some very haunting images are used and I love the idea of actually shooting on location for films like this instead of a studio back lot. There is something very haunting and cinematic about the woods, that always makes for great tension. However, all the good elements are over shadowed by goofy dialogue, and characters I had no emotional investment in.

The pacing of the film also hurts the film, just when you think the rollercoaster ride is going to start it only results in a false alarm. Imagine going on a rollercoast ride, but the actual going down part was eliminated..you just went up and sort of chugged along.

Some parts of the film are just so goofy. I thought about writing about the plot, but to be honest the less you know the better. However, I really think the films premise is done well and might have actually worked well had it been told a different way. Again I don't want to spoil the film.

I have been thinking of renting Sixth Sense and Unbreakable to revisit them. However, years from now unlike Dan K, I won't be asking anyone to take me back to the village.

What a let down for a film I looked forward to all summer. Oh well.

20 Tuckers World Points to the first reader to point out what Philly reference is in the film.

Hint: It's visual